Band-cutter and feeder.



No. 67!,979. Patented Apr. l6, l90l. W. SAIGHMAN.

BAND CUTTER AND FEEDER.

(Application filed Feb. 28, 1900.) (No Model.)

4 Sheets-Sheet I.

No. 67l,979. Patented Apr. I6, 'l9'0l. W. SAIGHMAN.

BAND CUTTER AND FEEDER.

(Application filed Feb. 28, 1900.) (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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Patented Apr. l6, l90l. W. SAIGHMAN. BAND CUTTER AND FEEDER. I

(Application filed Feb. 28, 1900.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

1 nests e Q2 NI'TED STATES PATENT FFICE.

WILLIAM SAIGHMAN, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

BAND-CUTTER AND FEEDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 671,979, dated April 16, 1901.

Application filed February 28. 1900. Serial No. 6,818- (No model.)

To a whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM SAIGHMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at'Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Band-Cutters and Feeders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to self -feeders and band-cutters; and it consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

One object of the invention is to produce a machine of this character whereby the carrier is prevented from operating at an excessive speed, and thereby feeding the bundles to the cylinder so rapidly that there is danger of the machine being choked up.

A further object of the invention is the provision of swinging forks which facilitate the movement of the straw and grain upon the feed-pans.

Other objects of the invention will hereinafter appear and be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l represents a side elevation, partly broken away, of a self-feeder and band-cutter embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is atop plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the swinging forks. Fig. 4 is a section of the clutch, taken on the line IV IV of Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line V V of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal sec-:

tion through the governor device for regulating the feed mechanism with some connected parts in elevation. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the clutch, the governor, the upper end of the carrier, and the devices operated by the governor for controlling the clutch.

In the said drawings, 1 1 designate the longitudinal parallel sills of the machine, 2 2 uprights near its rear end, and 3 3 shorter uprights near its front or discharge end.

4 4 designate inclined brace-timbers secured at their lower ends to sills 1 and against uprights 3 and at their upper ends to uprights 2.

5 design ates the boards which form the sides of the machine, and 6 vertical timbers adjacent to the rear uprights 2.

7 designates the usual or any preferred carrier-frame whereby the uncut bundles are fed 25, secured to uprights 2.

to the band-cutter, hereinafter described, and 8 feedpans, of the usual or any preferred construction, which form the bottom of the machine and are mounted near their front ends upon the rock-bars 9, (only one of which appears,) pivoted at their lower ends upon the cross-rod 10, carried by the adjustable rods 11, said rods extending through the sleeves 12 and secured at the required point of adjustment therein by means of the set-screws 13. By this arrangement the front ends of the feed-pans may be vertically adjusted, and in operation said pans rock upon the cross-rod 10. 14 designates cross-timbers (only one of which is shown) secured to the under side of said pans and carried at the lower ends of the swinging bars 15, pivoted at their upper ends in brackets 16, secured to the framework. In order to cause said pans to reciprocate back and forth, each cross-bar is provided with an ear 17, which is pivotally connected to the front end of the link 18 of an eccentric 19, mounted upon shaft 20, said shaft being journaled, preferably, in brackets 21, depending from the sills 1. A belt-wheel 22 is secured upon one end of the said shaft and is geared by a belt (not shown) to the cylinder-shaft or other suitable shaft of the threshing-machine, (not shown,) and mounted also upon shaft 20 is a sprocket-wheel 23, the object of which will be hereinafter described.

24 designates the shaft of the rotary bandcutter, and said shaft is journaled in boxes The rotary cutter comprises the cylinder or frame 28, mounted upon said shaft, the arms 29, projecting radially therefrom, and the curved knives 30, riveted to said arms and adapted to sever the bands by which the bundles of grain are secured. Upon said shaft, near one end, are a belt-wheel 26 and a fiy-wheel 27, and at its opposite end is a belt-wheel 26 to which motion is imparted by means of a belt (not shown) inorder to cause the knives to sever the bands.

The rotary cutter is covered. or enveloped by a hood 3i, and sec ured to the same are a plurality of brackets 32, said brackets be ing arranged alternately with respect to the knives of the cutter. 33 designates a series of levers pivoted vertically in said brackets and terminating at their ends in blades 34,

extending downward and forward and having their lower or cutting edges presented toward the bundles carried endwise on the carrier, so that the bands on the bundles will be out by said blades 34 if not cut by the rotary knives 30. The upper ends of said knife-levers are pivotally connected to the slide-rods 35, extending through a bracket 36 upon the hood or framework, and engaging the rear ends of said rods are adjustable collars or nuts 57, engaged by the expansive coil-springs 38, encircling the rods and bearing at their opposite ends against said collars or nuts and said bracket 36. By this arrangement the knives 34 are permitted to yield in case of an unusual or excessive accumulation of the material passing on the carrier or in case of contact with any hard foreign matters accidentally getting on the carrier, so that chancesof injury to the blades are lessened.

39 designates a pair of angular brackets which are bolted to the braces 4, and 40 a cross-bar secured thereon and provided at one end with a bracket- 41. The shaft 42 of a governor of a type in common use is journaled in a standard 43 upon said bar and a bearing 44 supported from the framework. Said governor is provided with the usual belt-wheel 45 and with a grooved disk 46, keyed to slide upon the shaft in the customary manner and connected to the wheel by means of the springarms 47, carrying governor-balls 48, so that as the speed of rotation becomes high the centrifugal action or force of the balls will cause them to describe a greater circle, and thereby slide the grooved disk toward the wheel. The groove of this disk is engaged by a yoke 49 on the end of a short rod 49, adapted to reciprocate in an open slot in the top of the standard 43 and connected at 50 to a link-rod 51, extending transversely of the machine and pivoted to the upper end of a bell-crank lever 52, which responds instantly to each variation in the speed of the governor, the latter being drix'en from belt-wheel 26 by means of the belt 53, connecting said wheel with the governor-wheel 45. The horizontal arm of the bell-crank lever 52 is pivotally connected to the pendent rod 54, and the latter extends through and is adjustably connected by the nuts 54 to the stop-bar 55, mounted pivotally at its front end upon the stub-shaft 56, projecting from the framework.

57 designates the front shaft of the carrier, and 58 a sleeve which is secured thereon by means of a set-screw 58 or its equivalent. At its outer end said sleeve is provided with an arm 59, bifurcated to provide the forwardlydisposed shoulder 60. A sprocket-wheel 61 is journaled upon said sleeve and is provided with an annular flange 62, above the periphery of which projects slightly said shoulder 60, and said flange internally is corrugated or scalloped, as shown at 63.

63 designates a lug projecting from sleeve 58, and 64 a pivot-pin secured at its opposite ends in said lug and the arm 59. 65 desigl nates a dog pivotally mounted upon said pin and provided with a tooth 66, projecting beyond the periphery of flange 62. Said dog is provided with a lug or car 67 within the sprocket-wheel and an antifriction-roller 6S, journaled upon a pin connecting said lug or ear and the body of the dog, said roller being adapted for engagement with one or another of the corrugations or scallops of the flange and is held normally therein by means of an expansive spring 69, interposed between the heel of said dog and said sleeve. 4

I11 practice the governor is arranged to attain a predetermined speed before the driveshaft 57 of the carrier is operated. Consequently it is clear that there is no danger of choking down the separator by feeding the straw to it before the separator has reached the speed at which it is desired to threshthat is to say, as long as the governor operates below a predetermined speed the stopbar (see Fig. 1) is depressed and held in the path of the shoulder of the arm 59 rigid upon shaft 57; but when the governor reaches the predetermined speed the centrifugal force exerted by the balls 38 operate the bell-crank lever 52 and raise the stop-bar 55 out of the path of said shoulder 60 and permit the spring 69 to swing dog forward and cause the roller 68 to engage one of the corrugations or scallops of the sprocket-wheel, and thereby lock the latter rigidly upon the shaft. If the speed from any cause should drop below the requisite number of revolutions per minute, the stop-bar 55 is automatically depressed, so that as the clutch rotates the tooth 66 of dog 65 engages the end of said bar. The force with which this dog strikes the unyielding bar overcomes the power of spring 69 and throws the roller 68 out of engagement with the wheel, and at the same instant the momentum of the shaft and carrier is overcome by the contact of shoulder 60 of dog 59 with said bar, with the result that the movement of the shaft instantly ceases. If the dog 65 were depended upon solely to arrest the movement of the shaft, it is obvious that the spring 69, which would thus sustain the entire thrust, would have to be renewed at frequent intervals. By the successive engagement of the dog and shoulder 60, however, the latter relieves the spring before it is compressed sufliciently to injure it.

70 designates an idle sprocket-wheel journaled in the rear end of the machine, and 71 a guide-roller near the front end of the machine and above the roller 71,'and journaled in bearings 72 at the upper ends of standard 3 is a crank-shaft 74, upon which is mounted a sprocket-Wheel 75. The sprocket-wheels 61 and 75 are driven by the sprocket-wheel 23 through the medium of the endless chain 76, which is guided by the idle wheels 70 and 71, as shown in Fig. 1. It will thus be seen that the sprocket-wheel 61 rotates continuously and only imparts motion to the shaft 57 when the engine is running at sufiicient speed to permit the clutch roller 68 to engage the corrugated or scalloped surface 63 of said sprocket. At other times said wheel turns loosely on the sleeve 58 of the clutch mechanism. The shaft 74 is provided, preferably, with three equidistant cranks 77, so that the feeding-fork of one shall always be acting to discharge the straw from the pan into the thresher. The forks correspond in number to the cranks, and as they are of identical construction a description of one will suffice for allthat is to say, 78 designates a board or plate which is journaled at a suitable point upon the crank 77 and is pivoted at its upper end, as at 79, to the link 80, said link consisting, preferably, of two bars'secured together in order to possess the necessary strength and stiffness, and the rear end of said link is pivoted to the block 81, secured to cross-bar 82. The bar 82 is supported at its opposite ends upon the brackets 39, which are provided with a longitudinal series of openings 83 to receive the bolts 84, by which the bar 82 is secured in position. The front end of the link is pivoted, as at 85, to the upper end of the fork proper, 86, and said fork is pivotally connected by the link 87 to the lower end of the board or plate 78. The speed of operation of these forks can be varied in order to regulate the amount of grain which goes into the thresher and can be made to feed on any desired point of the threshingcylinder either near the top or the bottom close down to the customary grain-plates. To accomplish this purpose, the bar 82 is adjusted forward or backward on the perforated brackets 39, and thereby vary the plane of operation of the lower ends of the forksthat is to say, when the bar 82 is advanced the forks feed nearer the bottom of the cylinder, and when the bar is withdrawn and secured at about the position shown in Fig. 2 the forks feed to a point near the top of the cylinder. This adjustment of the cross-bar can be accomplished while the machine is running at full speed, and therefore does not interfere with the threshing operation. The forks are positive in their operation and penetrate the bundle a sufficient distance to pick it up and move it forward, and thereby feed the grain by degrees, just as would be done by hand. The speed of these forks is slow and positive, but they may be geared to run at a higher speed in case of bad or moldy grain in order that each bunch or bundle may be thoroughly disintegrated. In action the forks have compound movement. In other words, they not only act through the movement of the cranks, but in addition have an extra movement, whereby their sphere of action is extended-that is to say, as the cranks are about to descend the forks are in position to move almost vertically downward and are more elevated than usual, because the links 87 extend upward at an acute angle to the boards or plates 78. In such downward movement they penetrate the bundle deeply, and as the cranks swing forward below their center of motion the links 87 swing downward, and thereby tend to cause the forks to move forward almost in a horizontal plane, this movement continuing until after the cranks have swung some distance forward of their center. Then the forks begin to rise, and by reason of the peculiar relation between the crank and the fork, caused by the compoundleverage connection between them, the fork is withdrawn from the bundle in the direction of its length, and thereby does not tend to interrupt the forward movement of the bundle nor disturb it, as would be the case if the fork in withdrawing continued in a line concentric of the shaft 74, as will be readily understood. These forks are arranged, as hereinbefore stated, so that one of them shall always be moving forward in order that the grain shall be continuously advanced by positively-applied pressure, and thereby insure a uniform and even feed to the cylinder. Motion is imparted to the shaft 20 through the medium of a belt (not shown) on the wheel 22, and from said shaft by means of chain 76 and the various sprocket-wheels motion is imparted to the carrier-shaft and crank-shaft 74. The operation of the shaft 20 through the medium of the eccentrics l9 and links 18 causes the reciprocatory movement of the feed-pans 8, and these acting in the customary manner cooperate with the forks in discharging the grain to the cylinder.

As the operation of the various parts has been described in detail, it is believed that a recapitulation of the operation will be unnecessary, and it is to be understood that changes in the form, proportion, detail construction, or arrangement of parts will not be considered a departure from the spirit and scope or sacrifice any of the advantages of the inven-- tion.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a band-cutter and feeder, the combination, with the carrier and its driving-shaft, of a sleeve 58, secured on said shaft, a sprocket IIS 61 rotatably mounted on said sleeve, a governor-shaft 42, means for simultaneously rotating said governor-shaft and said sprocket, an arm 59 and a lug 63 on said sleeve, said arm being provided with a shoulder 60; an annular internally-scalloped flange 62 on said sprocket,a dog 65 pivoted between said lug andsaid arm, a tooth 66 and a lug 67, both carried by said dog, a pin or spindle connecting lug 67 with said dog, a roller 68 on said pin, engaging any one of the scallops of said flange, a spring 69 confined between said sleeve and the heel of said dog, a pivoted stop-lever or detent 55, having its free end movable in the plane of said shoulder and said tooth, a vertical rod connected to said detent, a horizontal rod 51, a bell-crank lever connecting said rods, a grooved collar loosely mounted on said governor-shaft 42, a

connected thereto at its rear end and pivoted near its front end to the upper end of said 15 board or plate, a fork pivoted at its upper end to the front end of said link, and a link connecting the lower end of said board or plate and said fork,substantially as described.

, In testimony whereof I aflix my signature 20 in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM SAIGHMAN.

Witnesses:

M. R. REMLEY, G. Y. THORPE. 

